Standing Leg Rules

The Order of the Push

The standing leg, the upper body, and the free leg. These 3 are connected. Move them in this order, in this manner:

1. Standing leg moves first.
2. As your standing leg moves, your upper body moves.
3. As your upper body moves, the free leg moves.

Common errors:

• If you try to move your free leg first, your partner feels nothing.
• If you try to move your upper body first, your partner feels like you’re pushing her off balance (since you’re giving an upper body push no signal from the standing leg…and if her upper body moves but not her lower body, she falls).
• If you move your standing leg without bring your upper body with it, it feels like you’re shoving your hips into her.
• If you move your upper body without bringing your free leg with you, it feels like you’re falling (since the free leg isn’t under you to land).

Basically, you need these 3 things to move together in harmony.

Rise & fall

Even simpler and should be followed at all times:

• When the standing leg straightens (elevating your upper body), the free leg should retract…zipping up into a straight leg position.
• When the standing leg bends (lowering your upper body), the free leg should extend.

It doesn’t make sense to rise up on the standing leg while keeping the free leg out. And also doesn’t make sense to bend down on the standing leg while keep the free leg in place (collected).

There is also one add-on rule:

• Your body should always try to straighten.
• This means don’t slump when you bend the standing leg. Try to be as straight as you can.